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Show l'crfcct manntr• ®Ul '!Rose anti Stl"er herself, "and decide to take me along, 1 hope they 'II give me sufficient time to pack things decently." "Would the Colonel go, if you went?" "1 hardly think so. It wouldn't be quite so proper." "1 don't understand," remarked Isabel, wrinkling her pretty brows. "I don't either," Madame replied, confidentially. "However, 1 've lived long enough to learn that the conventions of society are all in the interests of morality. If you're conventional, you 'II be good, in a negative sense, of course." "How do you mean, Aunt Francesca?" "Perfect manners are diametrically opposed to crime. For instance, it is very bad form for a man to shoot a lady, or even to write another man's name on a check and cash it. It saves trouble to be conventional, for you're not always explaining things. Most of the startling items we read in the newspapers are serious lapses from conventionality and good manners. "The Crosbys aren't very conventional.'' Isabel suggested. "No," smiled Madame, "they're not, but their manners proceed from the most kindly and friendly instincts, consequently they're seldom in error, essentially." "They have lots of money, haven't they?" :an :afternoon a:an "1 have sometimes thought that the Crosbys had more than their age •nd social training fitted them to use wisely, but I've never known them to go far astray. They 've done foolish things, but 1 've never known either to do a wrong or selfish thing. Money is a terrible test of character, but 1 think the twins will survive it." "1 suppose they've done lots of funny things with it." Madame's eyes danced and little smiles wrinkled the corners of her mouth. "On the Fourth of July, last year, they presented every orphan in the Orphans' Home with two dollars' worth of fireworks, carefully chosen. Of course the inevitable happened and the orphans managed to set fire to the home, but, after two hours of hard work, the place was saved. Some of the children were slightly injured during the celebration, but that didn't matter, because as Juliet said, they'd had a good time, anyway, and it would give them something to talk about in years to come." "! t would have been better to spend the money on shoes, wouldn't it?" "1 don't know, my dear. The finest gift in the world is pleasure. Sometimes 1 think it's better to feed the soul and let the body fast. There is a time in life when one brief sky-rocket can produce more joy than ten pairs of shoes." Isabel smiled and glanced at Madame Ber- ,,., J'htCit C&ftt |